I currently work for the Ithaca Youth Bureau as a full time Youth Program Leader for the College Discovery Program.

My first job as a teen was working for Ben and Jerry’s through the Youth Employment Service. Starting with YES allowed me to get a job that I may not of gotten on my own. It allowed me to build some time management skills because I had to balance my job with the other parts of my life. I usually used the money for school clothes or helping my mom out as much as I could. Helping my family financially always made be feel good.

Many of the skills I use for my job now, I began to work on while having the support of YES. It was always helpful to be able to ask my YES rep questions with out feeling dumb or worrying about getting in trouble. Later I actually worked as a YES rep, and this allowed me to give the same support to students that I had received as a teen worker. I owe a lot of my professionalism and people skills to the practice I had working with YES. Now I am able to take care of my own family, while doing something I love and helping others.

I currently work at a cafe where I prepare food, act as a barista, clean dishes, work the cash register, and more. When I was a YES teen, I was a camp counselor at SewGreen, and I also worked at Dolce Delight.

Through my YES jobs I learned that helping other people is incredibly rewarding, regardless of whether I'm helping a child to learn a skill at camp or preparing meal for someone at a restaurant. My job makes me feel appreciated and necessary.

Teens are basically adults in training. At YES we’re all about helping teens develop into successful adults. But what exactly does that entail?

This week, YES asked 381 Ithaca teens what they think makes for a successful adult. For the most part, when the question was posed to a group of students, the first person to answer would almost always say money or a job. The next person in every group would typically respond by saying happiness or meaningful relationships. Once those standard answers were out of the way, we heard some really interesting opinions and well thought out ideas about what makes an adult successful.

One person confidently presented a three part answer that boils down to this: to be a successful adult, one must know how to deal with problems efficiently, evaluate situations before coming to conclusions and value logic above all else. “I’ve thought about this before,” she said with a smile.

Another teen said to be successful, an adult must have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While his friends made fun of him for plagiarizing the Declaration of Independence, he explained that to be successful, you must first be able to keep yourself alive, you must be capable of independence, and you must be constantly working toward the things that make you happy.

Success, by definition, is accomplishing your goals, and adults are simply people who are fully developed. Basically, a successful adult is someone who is fully developed and accomplishes their goals.

So how does YES help teens develop into successful adults?

Summer Jobs ProgramTwenty percent of the teens we spoke with said that having a good job and/or making money is what makes an adult successful. Money may not buy happiness, but it sure does buy food and shelter, and to be successful in life, food and shelter are the foundation of survival.

Our Summer Jobs Program is a great way for teens to get an early, paid work experience. Not only do our teens make money, but they develop important transferable skills, such as teamwork, communication, initiative, and problem solving, which they will be able to use in every future job they have. Check out the #StartWithYES section of our blog to see how YES teens of the past have grown into successful adults by getting their first summer job through YES.

We will begin interviewing for our 2017 Summer Jobs Program starting on March 27th. Download the application here.​

Manny just landed his first job by sticking with the action plan he made with Penny during his YES Connect meetings!

YES ConnectIf success is measured by meeting your goals, then YES Connect is the key to success.

In YES Connect, we begin by interviewing applicants to get to know them. From there, we challenge them to think about their goals. We want to know that their future career goals are, what their financial goals are, and what their goals for participating in the YES program are. More often than not, teens hope to find private employment.

Once a teen has established their goals, we assist them in creating an action plan. If a teen’s goal is to get a job, we might encourage them to build a resume, apply to several places, make follow up phone calls, and prepare for their interview by attending a YES workshop about improving their interviewing skills. Even if they don’t end up getting the jobs they’ve applied for, completing each step of their action plan is a small success, a small goal that has been achieved. The practice of setting up goals for yourself and completing tasks to meet those goals is an excellent way to set yourself up for success as an adult.

To join YES Connect, fill out our application and call the YES office at 273-8364 to set up an interview.

Being a successful adult will look different for just about everyone. As you train for adulthood, consider joining YES. We have over 35 years of experience helping teens mature into successful adults.

YES BLOG

Here's where you'll find YES Program News and Updates, along with lots of tips to help you find a job, land a job, and be the best worker you can be.

Contact Us

Youth Employment Service is a program of the Ithaca Youth Bureau, which is a department of the City of Ithaca. We receive support from the Tompkins County Youth Services Department, the Tompkins County Workforce Development Board, and the Joint Youth Commission.